Nine Noir Lives slinking towards 2019 release

If you know cats, you know they like to play by their own rules. So imagine a whole society of cats! Yeah, bedlam. It should come as no surprise, then, to find out that it'll up to you to bring order to a whole city of felines that has begun to run amok in indie South African developer Silvernode Studios' upcoming Nine Noir Lives.

Nine Noir Lives is set in Meow Meow Furrington, the "capital city of cats, cartels...and crime. A city that will just as soon claw your eyes out as lick your face." Above and beyond even the usual level of criminal activity, now the "most infamous murder" the city has ever seen is threatening to "spill into the city like an overturned saucer of milk and ignite a war between the powerful Montameeuw and Catulet families." Fortunately, this mystery gives experienced detective Cuddles Nutterbutter his big break. But beware, as "while he's hunting down a murderer, someone else is hunting him."

As should be immediately obvious, this pun-filled game is all-cats-all-the-time. Inspired by the genre classics, it's a beautifully hand-drawn adventure that promises to be "full of humour, crazy characters, and intriguing locations" to explore. Along the way, there will be "mind-bending puzzles to solve" in between all the licking. Yes, licking! As a feline yourself, your motto will be "lick first – ask questions later" as you "learn more about the world through the time-honoured approach of licking everything. Everything."

If the thought of a good old-fashioned point-and-click adventure has you purring like a kitten, you'll still have to wait a while yet before you pounce, as Nine Noir Lives is currently toying with an October 2019 launch date for Windows PC. In the meantime, you can discover additional details through the game's official website.